


Lunch Break

by Sunspot



Series: Howling Uncles [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Howling Commandos (Movies), Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Original Female Character - Freeform, Sammy Dernier
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-31
Updated: 2014-05-31
Packaged: 2018-01-27 18:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,668
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1718954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sunspot/pseuds/Sunspot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes a familiar face in a park is familiar for a reason.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lunch Break

Sammy wandered through Central Park looking for somewhere to eat her lunch, it was good to get out of the lab for an hour or two. She could get so absorbed that she wouldn’t see the sun for days if she let herself. Of course there was still a ton of work to do, but then there always was, and playing hooky cleared the mind.

Then she spotted a strange looking man sitting in the shade of a tree. He had a wild look in his eyes, though he looked oddly familiar. She knew the look, of course, she had a whole lot of family with a habit of fighting for their country. Sammy’d never got the fighting bug herself but she knew the look they got when they returned home. He was rough looking too, long ragged hair, shaggy, like he was trying to get as far from a crew cut as possible - she had seen that a time or too as well.

Then, as the man scanned his surroundings he looked directly at Sammy, just for a second, and it clicked where she recognised him from. Sammy always had a thing for talking to strangers, and with a face like that she couldn’t resist. So she strode up to the man, making her approach nice and visible to him. He saw her coming a mile off and held his position, well not running off was always a good start to a conversation.

‘Hi,’ she said, sitting down and leaning her back against the tree.

The man nodded at her. Strange, he really did look familiar.

‘Sorry to interrupt you, but this seemed a great tree to eat under, want some?’ She cracked open her Tupperware container of sandwiches and put them between the two of them. ‘Call it payment for sharing the tree. It’s nothing fancy – just PB+J and some ham and cheese in there to.’

The man shrugged and Sammy left the food right where it was.

‘You know, you remind me of one of my uncles.’

The man turned to her, still silent, but he raised a brow quizzically.

‘You couldn’t be him of course, he died a good while back. Well, he’s more like my great uncle. Well, _technically_ he’s not my uncle at all. But I’ve seen photos and well you do look a whole lot like him.’

The man reached out for a sandwich, watching her carefully as she took a bite of her own.

‘You’ll stop me if I talk too much won’t you? My brother always says I talk too much.’

The man shook his head, still silent, and took a bite of the ham and cheese, motioning for her to continue.

‘Weird kinda family I’m describing, huh? All those uncles - great uncles rather, but that’s a clumsy designation, so we all just say uncle. They fought together in World War II and all became such good friends that they stayed in close contact after. Their wives all got to being friends too, and their kids were brought up together in one big messy lot.’ Sammy’s hands flung around as she talked and a piece of sandwich went flying off, she giggled and swallowed the rest of it before continuing, ‘I’m not even related to most of my cousins, but they’re still family, you know? Actually, two of the uncles are really my grandfathers - Mom and Dad grew up together and nature took its course, least that’s what they always say. Well, in any case, you remind me of one of my uncles, he didn’t survive the War, sorry, awful morbid thing to say on a gorgeous day in the park. But still, you’re the spitting image of Uncle Bucky.’

The man stiffened, his eyes going wide as she said the name, and she broke off into silence. He looked like he was about to run off.

‘Sorry, did you recognise the name? Some people do now, after what happened with Uncle Steve.’

Saying that seemed to calm him, he looked instantly curious again and even reached for another sandwich. That was good, he had a hungry look about him. Sammy fiddled with her own PB+J.

‘I forget that people know the names, now that Uncle Steve is famous, they remember the Howling Commandos. Still, even though they’re all history and heroes to most people, to me they’re just my Uncles, even Uncle Bucky and Uncle Steve. It’s hard to see a man as an American icon when you grew up on stories of him tripping over his own feet around USO girls.’

The man snorted with laughter at this, and Sammy grinned.

‘Those were always my favourite stories. I liked the ones that were all heroic, full of adventure and fighting. Poppa Dum Dum always told those and they were exciting, but the ones that were more...human, I guess? I loved those ones best. Hydra agents and super soldiers are all well and good but I always loved listening to the ones about Grand-père refusing to learn English and Uncle Jim trying to catch Uncle Bucky in booby traps.  I was always sad I never got to meet Uncle Bucky, guess that’s why I wanted to come over and talk to you.’ The man really smiled at this, Sammy grinned back and they both grabbed another sandwich.

‘Uncle Bucky was my favourite, always so protective of Uncle Steve, even after he became the Captain. Guess I understand that a bit, my brother was  smaller than me. I always had to be the big sister and take care of him. Course then the shrimp had his growth spurt and now he’s got a head and a half on me, the little brat.’

 Sammy grinned at the man, he chuckled and reached into his bag and pulled out a chocolate bar, snapped it and offered her half. She accepted happily,

‘Listen to me prattle on. I did warn you I talk too much, and I didn’t even introduce myself properly.’ She stuck out a hand to him. ‘Name’s Sammy Dernier.’

The man paused, considering her hand for a moment, before extending his own; he wore gloves, as well as a long jacket. _Odd_ , she thought, _considering how warm it is_.

‘James,’ he said. ‘James Barnes.’ He grasped her hand carefully, like he was afraid to break it.

Sammy blinked and took a deep breath. She could see he was worried, waiting for her to freak out, but you didn’t get raised by Howling Commandos and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and still get spooked by something as simple as a resurrection.

‘Well it seems like I’m a better judge of faces then I thought.’ She said, shaking his hand firmly. ‘Should I call you James, or is Uncle Bucky alright?’

He sat back, that quizzical look on his face again. ‘Uncle Bucky is ... fine.’ His voice was hoarse, like he was out of practice at talking.

Sammy broke into one of her radiant grins, the one that had been successfully charming Howling Commandos her whole life. ‘Great! You need somewhere to stay?’

Bucky shook his head, ‘I’m alright. Have you...met Steve?’

Sammy shook her head. ‘S.H.I.E.L.D. kept him fairly internal after he woke up. Quite a few of the family are agents of course, so some of us let him know we were around and would love to meet him. Figured we’d let him come to us in his own time. Must be an odd thing to meet the grandkids of people you were fighting beside what feels like a few months ago.’ Sammy winked at Bucky and Bucky smiled back at her.

‘No kidding.’ He said.

‘I’m sure he’d be eager to see you again Uncle Bucky, and I can get in contact with him through the family.’

Bucky fiddled with his chocolate.

‘What’s with the gloves?’ Sammy asked, to break the tension. ‘It’s not exactly winter out here.’

‘You’re wearing long pants.’

‘And a t-shirt! Anyway, I work in a lab, safety protocol and all that.’

‘I’m just trying not to attract attention.’ Bucky replied, rubbing his left arm.

‘Yeah, I know the feeling.’ Sammy rolled up the cuff of her jeans, revealing metal and plastic where flesh should be.

Bucky started, and Sammy smiled at him and shrugged. ‘Takes one to know one, Uncle.’

Bucky smiled back at her and pulled the glove off his left hand, he flexed it absently, his metal fingers shone in the sun

‘Nice action!’ Sammy said, flexing her robotic ankle. ‘Man, I remember not being able to do even that, this one is top of the line though. _Way_ better than some of the old ones I had.’

‘I’ve had this for a long time,’ said Bucky, Sam tilted her head questioningly, he smiled at her, ‘I fell off a train remember.’

Sammy sighed. ‘At least you’ve got an interesting story. I just had cancer. Honestly – an entire family history of people in wars and I lose a leg to stupid cancer.’ Bucky chuckled, ‘Still, I tell people I got attacked by a shark, or there was an explosion in the lab that led to a big discovery. Way more fun that way.’

They fell into silence again, both enjoying the sun, and the chocolate.

‘It would be nice to see him again.’

‘No rush Uncle,’ she said. ‘It’s a beautiful day.’ Sammy flopped down on the grass and stared up at the blue sky filtering through the leaves. A few moments later, she felt Bucky flop down beside her as well. She wondered when the last time he had relaxed and stared at the sky had been.

‘Do you always talk to strange men in parks?’

‘I like talking to people.’

‘You should be careful.’

‘I’ll be fine, Grand-père always said that I fight like Aunt Peggy.’

‘Maybe I should tell people I got attacked by a shark.’

‘Nah, for an arm you’ve gotta go with fighting a bear.’

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Jennyara for the beta and for dragging me into the world of fanfiction, estora you are also responsible for me being here.  
> Dammit.


End file.
